Starbox Group Holdings (STBXF) Risk Analysis

As of the date of this annual report, we have issued an aggregate of 38,564,070 Class A Ordinary Shares in connection with our acquisitions since October 2023. In many circumstances, large issuances of equity for companies have the potential to cause a significant downward pressure on the price of ordinary shares. This is especially the case if the shares being placed into the market exceed the market's ability to take up the increased share issuance. Such an event could place further downward pressure on the price of our Class A Ordinary Shares. Regardless of our activities, the opportunity exists for short sellers and others to contribute to the future decline of our share price. If there are significant short sales of our Class A Ordinary Shares, the price decline that would result from our acquisition activities will cause the share price to decline more, which may cause other shareholders of our Class A Ordinary Shares to sell their shares, thereby contributing to sales of Class A Ordinary Shares in the market. We may continue executing acquisition transactions of the similar size and frequency, and if there are many more of our Class A Ordinary Shares on the market for sale than the market will absorb, the price of our Class A Ordinary Shares will likely further decline, which could result in our inability to meet the minimum closing bid price required for continued listing on Nasdaq set forth in Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2).

Our authorized share capital is divided into Class A Ordinary Shares and Class B Ordinary Shares. Holders of Class A Ordinary Shares are entitled to one vote per share, while holders of Class B Ordinary Shares are entitled to 100 votes per share. Each Class B Ordinary Share is convertible into 10 Class A Ordinary Share at any time by the holder thereof, while Class A Ordinary Shares are not convertible into Class B Ordinary Shares under any circumstances. The holder of Class B Ordinary Shares has the ability to control matters requiring shareholders' approval, including any amendment of our memorandum and articles of association. Any future issuances of Class B Ordinary Shares may be dilutive to the voting power of holders of Class A Ordinary Shares. Any conversions of Class B Ordinary Shares into Class A Ordinary Shares may dilute the percentage ownership of the existing holders of Class A Ordinary Shares within their class of Ordinary Shares. Such conversions may increase the aggregate voting power of the existing holders of Class A Ordinary Shares. In the event that we have multiple holders of Class B Ordinary Shares in the future and certain of them convert their Class B Ordinary Shares into Class A Ordinary Shares, the remaining holders who retain their Class B Ordinary Shares may experience increases in their relative voting power. Xiaoping Chen, through Nevis, beneficially owns 100% of our issued Class B Ordinary Shares. These Class B Ordinary Shares constitutes 1.44% of our total issued and outstanding share capital and 59.45% of the aggregate voting power of our total issued and outstanding share capital due to the disparate voting powers associated with our dual-class share structure. As a result of the dual-class share structure and the concentration of ownership, the holder of Class B Ordinary Shares has considerable influence over matters such as decisions regarding mergers and consolidations, election of directors, and other significant corporate actions. Such holder may take actions that are not in the best interest of us or our other shareholders. This concentration of ownership may discourage, delay, or prevent a change in control of our Company, which could have the effect of depriving our other shareholders of the opportunity to receive a premium for their shares as part of a sale of our Company and may reduce the price of our Class A Ordinary Shares. This concentrated control will limit your ability to influence corporate matters and could discourage others from pursuing any potential merger, takeover, or other change of control transactions that holders of Class A Ordinary Shares may view as beneficial.

Certain shareholder advisory firms have announced changes to their eligibility criteria for inclusion of shares of public companies on certain indices, including the S&P 500, to exclude companies with multiple classes of shares and companies whose public shareholders hold no more than 5% of total voting power from being added to such indices. In addition, several shareholder advisory firms have announced their opposition to the use of multiple class structures. As a result, the dual-class structure of our Ordinary Shares may prevent the inclusion of our Class A Ordinary Shares in such indices and may cause shareholder advisory firms to publish negative commentary about our corporate governance practices or otherwise seek to cause us to change our capital structure. Any such exclusion from indices could result in a less active trading market for our Class A Ordinary Shares. Any actions or publications by shareholder advisory firms critical of our corporate governance practices or capital structure could also adversely affect the value of our Class A Ordinary Shares.

A non-U.S. corporation such as ourselves will be classified as a passive foreign investment company, which is known as a PFIC, for any taxable year if, for such year, either: - at least 75% of our gross income for the year is passive income; or   - the average percentage of our assets (determined at the end of each quarter) during the taxable year which produce passive income or which are held for the production of passive income is at least 50%. Passive income generally includes dividends, interest, rents and royalties (other than rents or royalties derived from the active conduct of a trade or business), and gains from the disposition of passive assets. If we are determined to be a PFIC for any taxable year (or portion thereof) that is included in the holding period of a U.S. taxpayer who holds our Class A Ordinary Shares, the U.S. taxpayer may be subject to increased U.S. federal income tax liability and may be subject to additional reporting requirements. Depending on the amount of assets held for the production of passive income, it is possible that, for our 2024 taxable year or for any subsequent year, more than 50% of our assets may be assets which produce passive income, in which case we would be deemed a PFIC, which could have adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences for U.S. taxpayers who are shareholders. We will make this determination following the end of any particular tax year. For purposes of the PFIC analysis, in general, a non-U.S. corporation is deemed to own its pro rata share of the gross income and assets of any entity in which it is considered to own at least 25% of the equity by value. For a more detailed discussion of the application of the PFIC rules to us and the consequences to U.S. taxpayers if we were or are determined to be a PFIC, see "Item 10. Additional Information-E. Taxation-United States Federal Income Taxation-PFIC."

The trading price of our Class A Ordinary Shares is likely to continue to be volatile and could fluctuate widely due to factors beyond our control. This may happen because of broad market and industry factors, including the performance and fluctuation of the market prices of other companies with business operations overseas that have listed their securities in the United States. The securities of some of these companies have experienced significant volatility since their initial public offerings, including, in some cases, substantial price declines in their trading prices. The trading performances of other companies' securities after their offerings may affect the attitudes of investors toward companies listed in the United States in general and consequently may impact the trading performance of our Class A Ordinary Shares, regardless of our actual operating performance. In addition to market and industry factors, the price and trading volume for our Class A Ordinary Shares may be highly volatile for factors specific to our own operations, including the following: - our operating and financial performance;   - quarterly variations in the rate of growth of our financial indicators, such as net income per share, net income, and revenue;   - the public reaction to our press releases, our other public announcements, and our filings with the SEC;   - strategic actions by our competitors;   - changes in revenue or earnings estimates, or changes in recommendations or withdrawal of research coverage, by equity research analysts;   - speculation in the press or investment community;   - the failure of research analysts to cover our Class A Ordinary Shares;   - sales of our Class A Ordinary Shares by us or other shareholders, or the perception that such sales may occur;   - changes in accounting principles, policies, guidance, interpretations, or standards;   - additions or departures of key management personnel;   - actions by our shareholders;   - domestic and international economic, legal, and regulatory factors unrelated to our performance; and   - the realization of any risks described under this "Risk Factors" section. Any of these factors may result in large and sudden changes in the volume and price at which our Class A Ordinary Shares will trade. In the past, shareholders of public companies have often brought securities class action suits against those companies following periods of instability in the market price of their securities. If we were involved in a class action suit, it could divert a significant amount of our management's attention and other resources from our business and operations and require us to incur significant expenses to defend the suit, which could harm our results of operations. Any such class action suit, whether or not successful, could harm our reputation and restrict our ability to raise capital in the future. In addition, if a claim is successfully made against us, we may be required to pay significant damages, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Any trading market for our Class A Ordinary Shares may depend in part on the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us or our business. We do not have any control over these analysts. If one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade us, the price of our Class A Ordinary Shares would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our Company or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause the price of our Class A Ordinary Shares and the trading volume to decline.

The market price of our Class A Ordinary Shares could decline as a result of sales of substantial amounts of our Class A Ordinary Shares in the public market, or the perception that these sales could occur. In addition, these factors could make it more difficult for us to raise funds through future offerings of our Class A Ordinary Shares. An aggregate of 74,571,204 Class A Ordinary Shares are issued and outstanding as of the date of this annual report and 21,513,388 are freely tradable. The remaining Ordinary Shares will be "restricted securities" as defined in Rule 144. These Class A Ordinary Shares may be sold without registration under the Securities Act to the extent permitted by Rule 144 or other exemptions under the Securities Act. On October 5, 2023, we entered into a sales agreement with A.G.P/Alliance Global Partners ("A.G.P." or "Sales Agent"), to commence an at-the-market offering pursuant to which we may offer and sell, from time to time, through or to the Sales Agent, our ordinary shares, having an aggregate gross offering price of up to $30 million. Ordinary shares (now redesignated as Class A Ordinary Shares) are offered under our registration statement on Form F-3 (File No. 333-274484), initially filed with the SEC on September 12, 2023, and declared effective on September 28, 2023, and pursuant to a prospectus supplement to the registration statement filed with the SEC on October 5, 2023. As of the date of this annual report, the Company has issued 119,984 ordinary shares in the offering with net proceeds of $119,388.

As a foreign private issuer, we are exempt from the rules under the Exchange Act prescribing the furnishing and content of proxy statements, and our officers, directors and principal shareholders are exempt from the reporting and short-swing profit recovery provisions contained in Section 16 of the Exchange Act. In addition, we are not required under the Exchange Act to file periodic reports and financial statements with the SEC as frequently or as promptly as United States domestic issuers, and we are not required to disclose in our periodic reports all of the information that United States domestic issuers are required to disclose. While we currently are qualified as a foreign private issuer, we may cease to qualify as a foreign private issuer in the future, in which case we would incur significant additional expenses that could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

As an exempted company limited by shares incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, we are subject to the Nasdaq corporate governance listing standards. However, Nasdaq rules permit a foreign private issuer like us to follow the corporate governance practices of its home country. Certain corporate governance practices in the Cayman Islands, which is our home country, may differ significantly from the Nasdaq corporate governance listing standards. We have relied on and plan to rely on home country practice with respect to our corporate governance. Specifically, we have elected to be exempt from the requirements under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635 to obtain shareholder approval for (i) the issuance 20% or more of our outstanding ordinary shares or voting power in a private offering, (ii) the issuance of securities pursuant to a stock option or purchase plan to be established or materially amended or other equity compensation arrangement made or materially amended, (iii) the issuance of securities when the issuance or potential issuance will result in a change of control of our Company, and (iv) certain acquisitions in connection with the acquisition of the stock or assets of another company. As a result, our shareholders may be afforded less protection than they otherwise would enjoy under the Nasdaq corporate governance listing standards applicable to U.S. domestic issuers.

Our securities are listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market. We cannot assure you that our securities will continue to be listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market. In order to maintain our listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market, we are required to comply with certain rules of the Nasdaq Capital Market, including those regarding minimum stockholders' equity, minimum share price, minimum market value of publicly held shares, and various additional requirements. Even if we currently meet the listing requirements and other applicable rules of the Nasdaq Capital Market, we may not be able to continue to satisfy these requirements and applicable rules. If we are unable to satisfy the Nasdaq Capital Market criteria for maintaining our listing, our securities could be subject to delisting. If the Nasdaq Capital Market subsequently delists our securities from trading, we could face significant consequences, including: - a limited availability for market quotations for our securities;   - reduced liquidity with respect to our securities;   - a determination that our Class A Ordinary Shares are a "penny stock," which will require brokers trading in our Class A Ordinary Shares to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our Class A Ordinary Shares;   - limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and   - a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future.

Some provisions of our articles of association may discourage, delay, or prevent a change in control of our Company or management that shareholders may consider favorable, including, among other things, the following: - provisions that authorize our board of directors to issue shares with preferred, deferred or other special rights or restrictions without any further vote or action by our shareholders; and   - provisions that restrict the ability of our shareholders to call shareholder meetings.

Our board of directors may, in its sole discretion, decline to register any transfer of any Ordinary Share which is not fully paid up or on which we have a lien. Our directors may also decline to register any transfer of any Ordinary Share unless (i) the instrument of transfer is lodged with us, accompanied by the certificate for the shares to which it relates and such other evidence as our board of directors may reasonably require to show the right of the transferor to make the transfer; (ii) the instrument of transfer is in respect of only one class of shares; (iii) the instrument of transfer is properly stamped, if required; (iv) in the case of a transfer to joint holders, the number of joint holders to whom the share is to be transferred does not exceed four; (v) the shares transferred are free of any lien in favor of us; or (vi) a fee of such maximum sum as the Nasdaq Capital Market may determine to be payable, or such lesser sum as our board of directors may from time to time require, is paid to us in respect thereof. If our directors refuse to register a transfer they shall, within three months after the date on which the instrument of transfer was lodged, send to each of the transferor and the transferee notice of such refusal. The registration of transfers may, on 14 days' notice being given by advertisement in one or more newspapers or by electronic means, be suspended and the register closed at such times and for such periods as our board of directors may from time to time determine, provided, however, that the registration of transfers shall not be suspended nor the register closed for more than 30 days in any year. This, however, will not affect market transactions of the Class A Ordinary Shares purchased by investors in a public offering. Where the Class A Ordinary Shares are listed on a stock exchange, the Class A Ordinary Shares may be transferred without the need for a written instrument of transfer, if the transfer is carried out in accordance with the rules of the stock exchange and other requirements applicable to the Class A Ordinary Shares listed on the stock exchange.

We are an "emerging growth company" within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period, which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This will make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.

We are incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands as an exempted company limited by shares. Currently, the vast majority of our operations are conducted in Malaysia, and almost all of our assets are and will be located outside of the United States. In addition, almost all of our officers and directors are nationals and residents of a country other than the United States, and almost all of their assets are located outside the United States. As a result, it may be difficult or impossible for you to bring an action against us or against these individuals in the United States in the event that you believe we have violated your rights, either under United States federal or state securities laws or otherwise, or if you have a claim against us. Even if you are successful in bringing an action of this kind, the laws of the Cayman Islands and of Malaysia may not allow you to enforce a judgment against our assets or the assets of our directors and officers.

Our corporate affairs are governed by our memorandum and articles of association, by the Companies Act (as amended) of the Cayman Islands (the "Cayman Companies Act") and by the common law of the Cayman Islands. The rights of shareholders to take action against our directors, actions by minority shareholders, and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors to us under Cayman Islands law are to a large extent governed by the common law of the Cayman Islands. The common law in the Cayman Islands is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in the Cayman Islands and from English common law. Decisions of the Privy Council (which is the final Court of Appeal for British overseas territories such as the Cayman Islands) are binding on a court in the Cayman Islands. Decisions of the English courts, and particularly the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal are generally of persuasive authority but are not binding in the courts of the Cayman Islands. Decisions of courts in other Commonwealth jurisdictions are similarly of persuasive but not binding authority. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under Cayman Islands law are not as clearly established as they would be under statutes or judicial precedents in the United States. In particular, the Cayman Islands has a less developed body of securities laws relative to the United States. Therefore, our public shareholders may have more difficulty protecting their interests in the face of actions by our management, directors, or controlling shareholders than would shareholders of a corporation incorporated in a jurisdiction in the United States.

Cayman Islands law provides shareholders with only limited rights to requisition a general meeting and does not provide shareholders with any right to put any proposal before a general meeting. These rights, however, may be provided in a company's articles of association. Our articles of association allow our shareholders holding shares which carry in aggregate not less than one-third of all votes attaching to all of our issued and outstanding shares, to requisition a general meeting of our shareholders, in which case our chairman or a majority of our directors are obliged to call such meeting. Advance notice of at least seven calendar days is required for the convening of any general meeting of our shareholders. A quorum required for a meeting of shareholders consists of at least one shareholder, present in person or by proxy, holding shares which carry in aggregate not less than one-third of all votes attaching to all of our shares in issue and entitled to vote at such meeting.